My brother Ben-Zion organized a group of people in ghetto Novogrudok
before the massacre. He wanted to go with them to the forest to establish
contact with Russian partisans, but the Judenrat interfered. They were
afraid of the consequences from the Gestapo, which threatened that if some
Jews would be missing, hundreds of otherse would be murdered.

It was too late; the Aktion came. It was the second massacre for Novogrudok.
For the Jews from Korelitz, it was the first and the last; only a few survived.
We, the remaining Jews of ghetto Peresica, had only one thing on our minds:
to escape from the ghetto. It was not an easy task. We were surrounded
by the Nazi guard day and night, like the most dangerous prisoners.

The thought of revenge was giving strength to our existence. A messenger
brought news to the ghetto that the Bielsky brothers, who lived near the
forests, had started to organize a partisan group. The first group of eight
men left the ghetto. They joined the Bielskys in the summer of 1941. My
brother Ben-Zion left with the second group. A few weeks later, he sneaked
back into the ghetto for his wife Judy and myself, and to rescue other
Jews. We left the ghetto on a dark and windy night, along with thirty more
Jews. We knew of the dangers that lay before us. When we were already on
the other side of the ghetto wall, perhaps half a mile away, we heard shots
fired in our direction. Somehow we were lucky. After walking all night
we came to the forest where the Bielsky group stayed. At that time there
were about sixty people in the group.

Our group was under the command of Tuvia Bielsky and grew fast, soon
reaching 1200 Jews. Our unit was an exclusively Jewish partisan division.
It consisted of people of all ages, even some children who had miraculously
escaped the massacres. Everyone was welcome, not as in the non- Jewish
groups. Our first task was to get ammunition. Some people already had secured
guns in the ghetto; others who had some money in gold coins bought rifles
from the peasants. Most got weapons by ambushing the enemy. Since we could
not engage in an open fight with the Nazis, we were mostly involved in
sabotage work: cutting telephone lines, blowing up bridges, railroad tracks,
trains and other installations, with homemade mines. It was very dangerous
work and unfortunately many of our young peope lost their lives. We often
had to fight Russian or Polish partisans, for they would quickly kill a
Jewish fighter for a good pair of boots or a for a rifle.

I was the first of the girls to get a rifle. I would stand guard together
with the men fighters, and I would join them in other acts of vengeance
against the murderers of our people. Most of the women's work was cooking,
washing, caring for the fellow partisans and taking care of the sick and
wounded. I participated in those chores also. For the women in the forest,
mostly young girls, we constantly among men in a society where morality
did not exist any more ... So most of us became close with a young man,
and stayed together, and most of these couples are still living together.
I met my husband Murray in the forest; we fought together, and we got married
after the war.

Some peasants were working for the Germans as informers. With the help
of peasant informers and the local police the Germans would very often
raid farms where partisans stopped to rest. Many brave, young Jewish fighters
met with a cruel death because of the informers. Eventually the informers
received their punishment at the hands of the Jewish Partisans.

Many times the Germans encircled the forest with tanks and armoured
vehicles filled with soldiers. The forests were bombed and attacks were
launched on the Partisans' base. This was an Oblava (raid). We were surrounded
on all sides; danger was enormous. For many days we did not have anything
to eat or clean water to drink. We lived in underground bunkers called
zeimlankas. On the surface they were camouflaged to appear as if nothing
was underneath. Without windows, without toilets, without air to breathe,
these were our sleeping quarteres.

In the summer of 1944 I was standing guard outside the base, and I heard
the noise of far off guns and explosions. I could see Russian planes flying
over the forest. The Red Army passed on the road close to our base. My
emotions atthat moment were simply indescribable. The Germans were retreating.
Our struggle in the woods would end soon but the danger was still with
us. A big group of German soldiers on horseback moved toward our base,
throwing grenades and shooting. Fighting began; everyone who had a rifle
was on the battlefield. We lost ten of our best people. However, the Nazis
did not escape either. The next day, on August 13, 1944, we left the forest
on the way to town and freedom.